Tuesday, January 15, 2008
rollin' rollin' rollin'
Keep them doggies rollin'.
Keep them doggies rollin' - Rawhide!
TV westerns.
Good bad and ugly.
I grew up watching them in the 50's & 60's, and have been drawn to westerns ever since. Without a doubt, part of the reason I am so intrigued by the history of the westward movement in this country is because I have been so enamoured with television shows depicting The Old West.
There were mediocre TV westerns and better than mediocre TV westerns.
Then HBO's 'Deadwood' cut a swath in the TV Western genre that proved too w-i-d-e, too deep and too daunting for any newly conceptualized TV western to traverse.
It has yet to be equaled or bettered.
Every other TV western before or since has failed to hold a candle.
Since the last episode of Deadwood's Season 3, I await in eager anticipation for the next all-consuming western series on television.
Along comes Comanche Moon on CBS. A 'prequel' to Larry McMurtry's 'Lonesome Dove', it could have delivered something, anything - to whet this parched palate.
Alas! It is only my humble opinion, but Comanche Moon fails to serve up the thirst quenching and/or intoxicating and/or addictive elixir. Indeed, it falls miserably short, as in Damn-But-Why-Can't-They-Deliver-Just-
A-Bit-of-Deadwood-Stylin'?!?
Even the presence of the awesome Wes Studi barely holds this miniseries aloft. He's always amazing with what he contributes, but there's too much in the way of insipid characterizations for his acting to overcome. Rachel Griffiths is also good, but then - she too - with the right direction, could be great.
Alas - 'Deadwood' has spoiled me - for life.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I have always appreciated Wes Studi's acting. Didn't he scare you to death in "Last of the Mohicans?"
More of Wes, less of the insipid bar girls.
p.s.
How come they were asleep (intro)when the sun was at high noon? (according to the shadows)And why did everyone in their nighties go running into the streets during the attack? Why not hide in the cellar, or behing the building?! Or at least OUT of the STREET!
AND were not the horses beautiful?
justducky ~
Wes Studi scares me in ALL his mean roles! I think that's what makes him sooooo good at his craft.
You crack me up with noting the long shadows - the artist in you is perceptive indeed.
Re: the running into the middle of the street in nighties was to emphasize the vivid contrast between crisp white fabrics and splattered red blood, of course.
There was so much old-style cliché in this series - it was downright insulting to everyone involved.
10 steps forward, 20 steps back.
But yes, the horses were quite beautiful.
P.S. Was Val Kilmer overacting, or did he also fall victim to the overall bad direction/ poor production?
Arrrgh. They messed with Lonesome Dove something awful. Try try try again.
Way before I fell in love with Deadwood, I had grand passion for Lonesome Dove. That is, the original mini-series (and book). Nothing that had come since in the way of subsequent Lonesome Dove broadcast series and , for that matter, Larry McMurtry follow up novels matched the quality of the original. You talk about Lonesome Dove being messed with: how many of us sampled and quickly spat out the failed attempts to recapture the original Lonesome Dove's synergetic magic? James Garner as Captain Call? Pu-leeze!Sissy Spacek as Lorena, the role originated by the captivating Diane Lane? Sacrilege! And she married to Pea Eye? Ai yi yi!! There was even a weekly Lonesome Dove series for a short time. That added what to our enjoyment?: absolutely nothing, (say it again). How many of us have chosen to forget that? Yes, Lonesome Dove had been messed with and messed with bad.
I read McMurtry's Commanche Moon upon it's initial release some years ago. Hardly remembered what all about it.
Now after years to allow us to filter out the bad and retain only the good of the Lonesome Dove saga, comes Commanche Moon on tv. Comes to us post Deadwood. Personal expectations: low. Anticipation:tepid. Reaction: mixed.
My first thought: sure is purty. Then, why are these guys trying so hard to act like Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones? Like caricatures. Followed by, gosh, Val Kilmer must have studied in the Johnny Depp over the top school of acting. Then, I wonder if these "Indians" are actually speaking in proper dialect to one another or is it like when you have Chinese folks in shows where one speaks in Cantonese and the other responds in Mandarin. Then, came, why is Deets and Pea Eye so young? Shouldn't they be a bit older? Is McCrae suppose to be that much shorter that Call? This guy is gonna grow up to be Danny Glover? And finally, why ain't this Deadwood, why ain't these people the REAL Lonesome Dove people?? Then, then...I relaxed.
I thought anew: this sure is purty. My, who is that fetching actress who portrays Clara? This feller is channeling a little Bobby Duvall after all ain't he? Lookit how the bonds amongst these folks grow. What's gonna drive Clara away from Gus? Ooh, Maggie's gonna have a baby and it'll be Newt. How blind and stupid can Call be that the baby is his and that this woman loves him? Blue Duck will survive to terrorize all in the future. What made him so bad? Is Jake Spoon gonna take off soon? Is that the French feller who still owned the saloon in the original series? And on and on.
THe narrative took hold. The saga held center stage. The bridges to the familiar became apparent. The whys and what fors made better sense. And thus the Lonesome Dove experience was enriched. For three nights invested into looking at purty horses, I'll take it.
Amen, BROTHER!
Post a Comment